In the hustle and bustle of putting this week’s paper together, we forgot to add a very special show. Tonight at Rotture (S.E. 3rd and Pine), some of Portland’s finest—post-punkers Reporter (ex-Wet Confetti), experimental folky Dragging an Ox Through Water, nearly broken-up Bjork-inspired pop outfit Sukey Tawdry, plus singer/songwriters Justin King and Louis Soto—join together [...]

On Friday night, Brendan Fowler—the Los Angeles lad that takes stages as BARR—performed his insightful-spoken-word-over-iPod-music at Backspace. Fowler smiled through out, whether he was immersed in a long verse or just playing with the lighting that flashed on and off in step with his voice. Missed out on the adventure? Take a journey into the [...]

When I received this brand new track from Oh Captain, My Captain guitarist Josh Spacek, it came with a note saying the song, a recent demo sent to him by OCMC frontman Jesse Bettis, “kind of took [him] by surprise.” And it’s not hard to see why: The tunes on OCMC’s self-titled ‘07 EP (released [...]

One can imagine that the uninitiated, stumbling upon an Inca Ore performance for the first time—witnessing a pixielike young woman hunched over a keyboard, crooning unintelligible, sing-songy poetry into a pedal-treated microphone—might have the old “My kid could do this” reaction usually reserved for paint-splattered postmodern art. However, a more apt reaction might be, [...]

I have a lot of faith in Colin Meloy. The Decemberists frontman is capable of many wondrous things: writing a pop song that casually employs the word “balustrade,” for one; convincingly delivering lines like “My name is Leslie Anne Levine” in tenor, for two. And, truth be told, he’s written four full-length records that, [...]

[ELECTRO-POP] With its elaborate makeup and custom-made sexed-up costumes, Fleshtone has always put its own twist on the rock opera. Past shows have included softcore porn-ish hot-dog outfits, jungle gyms and grown men in diapers—all of which has made the troupe one of Portland’s more controversial, not to mention polarizing. But, considering a recent [...]

[PSYCH-ROCK] The World Famous Kenton Club in North Portland has the most elaborate bathroom graffiti I’ve ever seen. It features the word “grout,” which Merriam-Webster defines as a “thin mortar used for filling spaces,” substituted into humorous phrases and written between bathroom tiles. Over and over again. There are hundreds of them: “The Grout [...]

Ambient music is a lot of things for a lot of different people: A bedtime treat for indie rockers, fodder for art installations, a refuge for otherwise nonmusicians to dabble in making their own music. To E*Rock, from the sound of “Exexpat,” ambient music is an opportunity to play with soundscapes and mood music, moving [...]

Perhaps the craziest thing that has yet or will ever happen in Portland (until the big earthquake comes, at least) is happening this Saturday…and Sunday at Hippodrome (315 SE 3rd, between Oak and Pine): The 24 Hour Concert and Vibe Zone. To mark the release of Strategy’s Music for Lamping and the Ambient Not Not [...]